CAPE COD – We start this weeks report with an update from the Cape Cod COVID Task Force as reported by Jane Sheehy Emplit: The Cape Cod COVID-19 Response Task Force feels optimistic yet still urges vigilance as it looks back at the year since the state of emergency was declared on March 10, 2020.
Barnstable County has seen 10,452 PCR-confirmed cases in the last year, with 418 total fatalities.
Barnstable County’s case fatality rate at 4% has been high compared to the state average of 2.8%, and fatalities have been greater in clusters around two virus peaks in May of 2020 and January 2021, whereas the state’s numbers were significantly greater around the first wave and lower during the second.
Cape & Islands State Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro), who also serves as public information officer of the task force, said “the rules remain the same” during the recovery and reopening phases of the pandemic with all safety measures still in place, and the continuing aim to pull together the business community and private sector, sharing the goal to save lives and livelihoods.
Cyr asks for patience and urges all to watch local news sources as each update from Gov. Charlie Baker brings new directives and the rules can and do change frequently. The allocation of vaccines on Cape has remained consistent but there is still a limited supply.
The task force hopes to be able to align with Baker’s announcement Wednesday adding specific accommodations for teachers to receive vaccinations sooner, but urge educators to make appointments now where possible as plans and dates have not been clarified. They will be putting out new information as it is received.
Cape Cod Commissioner Executive Director Kristy Senatori said the commission partnered with the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce in sending out surveys to local businesses in three waves over the past year.
The goal of these surveys was to collect data to help understand the impact of COVID-19 on our local economy. The overall results have showed a large percentage of businesses have been able to reopen or have plans to reopen shortly.
Most respondents were from retail, restaurant and food service or accommodation industries and while many are reporting revenue losses compared to 2019, there has also been a positive impact as a result of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans received by many Cape businesses.
Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross feels that although the mask, distance and capacity limit directives remain in place, the recently updated travel advisory that allows those who have completed their vaccinations to be allowed into Massachusetts without quarantine or test restrictions will be beneficial to the financial health of Cape Cod.
Currently there are three important legislative initiatives being worked on at the State House according to Plymouth/Barnstable State Senator Susan Moran (D-Falmouth), one being paid leave for employees who contract the virus and need to isolate or need time to get vaccinated, and would include reimbursement of costs to employers.
This bill would also waive penalties for missed tax payments on unemployment benefits received in 2020 and provide targeted tax relief to unemployed workers whose income falls below 200% of the poverty line.
The second initiative would be unemployment insurance rate relief for employers which proposes financing a program for improvements to the unemployment insurance trust fund and providing relief to employers and workers in the Commonwealth.
This bill would freeze the unemployment rate schedule for 2021 and 2022; limit employer payment increases and authorize state borrowing secured by a temporary employer assessment to keep the unemployment trust fund solvent.
Without this legislation employers are on track to see their unemployment insurance rates increase. The third bill would provide exemption from income taxes for forgiven PPP loans for employers. This would exclude Cares Act PPP loan forgiveness amounts from the state income tax for small businesses in Massachusetts.
PPP loans have been granted to 7,568 Cape business and have been credited with saving 62,000 jobs. The majority of these businesses employ 24 or fewer employees.
Latest data: The Massachusetts death toll from COVID-19 is at 16,218. There were 296 new cases of COVID-19 in Barnstable County this past week compared with 253 last week. There have been a total of 10,655 COVID-19 cases on Cape Cod since the pandemic began. There were 10 new deaths in Barnstable County in the past week bringing the total on Cape Cod to 424.
Hospitalization capacity in Southeast Massachusetts is at 83.3%. ICU capacity is at 68.4%.
The latest state map shows
Barnstable, Bourne, Chatham, Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich, Yarmouth are yellow (medium)
Brewster, Dennis, Eastham, Harwich are green (low)
Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Orleans are grey (nil)
Local updates: Provincetown reports 8 active cases up from 3 last week. Barnstable reported 132 new cases in the past 14 days. As of March 5th, Falmouth reported a total of 1,201 cases since the pandemic began but did not provide a recent time period breakdown.
